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DIEHARD
03-12-07, 11:40 AM
Official Rugby League World Cup 2008
Edition # 4 - 03/12/07

Tickets for the Rugby League World Cup are selling fast with matches involving Australia, both semi-finals and the final being the most sought after.

The final at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on November 22 is expected to sell out quickly with organisers urging supporters to get in early and avoid disappointment.

An expected crowd of 52,000 will witness the decider in the Queensland capital, the biggest attendance to watch an international Rugby League match in Australia since 55,505 packed into the Sydney Cricket Ground to watch Australia beat Great Britain 22-18 in the Second Test in 1974.

The full-house sign is anticipated for the 2008
finale will attract the highest crowd to watch a World Cup match since 1968 when 54,290 watched Australia defeat France 20-2 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Every game will be an event played at first class stadiums by quality teams. The only way for fans to make sure they will be at the game is to purchase tickets as soon as possible.

Sky Sports will show all 18 matches of the 2008 World Cup live across United Kingdom and Ireland as well as parts of Europe.

With 10 nations competing in Australia, every match from all three groups, knock-out stages, including both semi-finals and the final, will be shown live on Sky Sports.

"The partnership between the Rugby League World Cup and Sky Sports is of enormous significance. Not only do they take the competition to an incredibly wide audience but their ability to capture the drama and excitement of major sport is respected throughout the world," said Rugby League World Cup Director, Mr Colin Love.

The 2008 Tournament will be the first time the event will be staged in Australia since three matches were contested in 1977.

Sky Sports presenter Mike Stephenson, who was part of the victorious Great Britain World Cup side in 1972, said it would be a privilege to once again be involved in the World Cup.

"It brings back memories of scoring the try that helped us win the World Cup in 1972. Playing in the World Cup is the pinnacle of any player's career and I am sure the players can't wait for the tournament to commence," said Stephenson.

Sky Sports broadcast more than 90 live games a year from the Super League, National League and international matches. This season, matches have been shown live in High Definition, on mobile phones and on PC via broadband, for the first time.

Ricky Stuart will continue a fine tradition of coaches that have taken charge of Australian sides in World Cup tournaments.

Vic Hey, who toured with the 1933/34 Kangaroos, took charge of the Australians in the inaugural World Cup in 1954.

Dick Poole, who played 10 Tests, was captain-coach of Australia in the 1957 World Cup held in Australia and Keith Barnes also had a dual role in the 1960 event.

Harry Bath, who played for Balmain and St George and had a stellar career in England with Warrington, was non-playing coach in 1968, 1970 and 1972.

Rugby League immortal Graeme Langlands was captain-coach of the 1975 side while Terry Fearnley took charge of the 1977 Australian side.

In recent years, Bob Fulton (1995) and Chris Anderson (2000) have coached Australia to World Cup success and Stuart has the opportunity to emulate both of them.

Stuart joined the Canberra Raiders after switching from Rugby Union in 1988. After 11 seasons and 203 first grade matches with the green machine, he had two years with the Bulldogs.

He began his coaching career with the Bulldogs Jersey Flegg side in 2001 before being offered the first grade job at the Sydney Roosters the following year. In his inaugural season in the NRL, he guided the Tricolours to premiership success.

Stuart was appointed New South Wales coach in 2005 and succeeded Wayne Bennett as Australian coach in 2006. In his first game in charge, Australia thrashed New Zealand 50-12.

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WORLD CUP EXIT A HUGE SHOCK FOR WALES

The importance of the Rugby League World Cup was clearly illustrated after Wales missed out on a spot in the 2008 tournament after losing to Scotland on aggregate and then being outclassed by Lebanon in the repechage semi-finals.

The Welsh, who reached the World Cup semi-finals in 1995 and 2000, were one of the favourites to fill the remaining five spots available for qualifying nations.

But they underestimated the Scottish pride, losing 21-14 last year in the opening qualifying match before coming away with an 18-16 victory last month. That wasn't enough as Scotland advances through to the World Cup by way of a 37-32 aggregate score.

Wales' final chance to secure a place in the World Cup was by way of the repechage but they were outclassed 50-26 by a spirited Lebanon outfit.

The Welsh, with Super League stars Iestyn Harris and Lee Briers leading the way, held a 20-10 advantage early in the second half only to capitulate in the final 35 minutes of the game.

"We are all devastated. We were all confident of qualifying for the World Cup but that is gone now," said Wales team manager John Devereux.

"Unfortunately for people like Lee Briers and Iestyn Harris, they have probably played their last game for Wales."

Wales were hoping to fly the international flag for their country after their Rugby Union counterparts performed poorly in the World Cup recently while the football (soccer) team didn't qualify for their version of the tournament.

AUSSIES TO DECIDE ON WARM-UP MATCHES

The Australian Rugby League (ARL) will sit down with national coach Ricky Stuart early next year to discuss if the current world champions will be playing a warm-up match prior to taking on New Zealand in the opening World Cup clash at the Sydney Football Stadium on October 25.

The Kangaroos will take on the Kiwis in a Test match on Friday, May 9 in Australia but there will be no return match played after the NRL grand final, as has been the case in recent years.

"We don't want to take the focus away from the World Cup but I will be sitting down with Ricky (Stuart) to discuss any issues regarding warm-up matches," said ARL Chief Executive Geoff Carr.

"It is still early and it will come down to whether Ricky believes a warm-up match would be required before the World Cup starts."

An Australian Prime Minister's XIII will continue to play a Papua New Guinea representative side with potential World Cup players set to feature. The game is scheduled to be played in late September.

A certain percentage of players that will turn out for Australia in the World Cup will be involved in the NRL finals and a number of them would be featuring in the grand final, set down for October 5.

DID YOU KNOW ?

Steve Menzies is the only player that will still be running around in the NRL in 2008 that featured in the 1995 World Cup for Australia.

Despite missing many of the Super League stars, the Aussies walked away with the World Cup trophy after beating England 16-8 before 66,540 spectators at Wembley Stadium.

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